A true bargain for the delusionally clueless...

[CINDERS]

So put it next to any Sniper T's or HT's price and the cost of that one will seem very reasonable...................

[Roger Payne]

I suppose it also comes down to how much you'd like one. If I bought one it would be as a stock item to sell on, & my retail would be considerably less than theirs; so, I just don't buy it. Someone else who simply can't live without it can have it, & will no doubt be very pleased with it. It might sound mercenary, but there's not much out there that I can't walk past these days if the price is not right.

[Lance]

It is a nice girl and as a butt man I love multiple cartouches, an added bonus is that it is a harder to locate BSA conversion. The bid downer, beside the price, it is the m/m bolt.... This is the 3rd or 4th example they have posted for sale in the past few years so someone is spending big bucks on them.

[browningautorifle]

I agree with Roger, I don't have to buy too much any more. But these guys have them and sit on them until they sell. And in the end, they WILL sell...slowly you'll see their supply run out. Then they'll cost twice that. I'll bet they bought them for scrap weight.

[Ridolpho]

Like the Grand Funk Railroad song says.............."picked a bad time to fall in love" (with early Lee Enfields!). Have seen pretty typical No, 1 MkIII's listed for as much as $2,300 here within the last year while purchasing much more exclusive Lee Enfields, etc for significantly less. Pricing is often baffling which I attribute to newcomers to the field with large disposable incomes and little patience- "gotta have a Great War No. 1 to mark anniversary of the conflict". I recently bought one of my biggest missing pieces, a Lee Metford MkI* (upgraded from '89 Mk I) and now have to find a second job for Mrs. Ridolpho and defer her retirement.

Ridolpho

[browningautorifle]

have to find a second job for Mrs. Ridolpho

Off to the oil fields...driving trucks...

[jrhead75]

It's easy actually...if you think you can find it cheaper, then OK...but when you search for a couple of years and don't see any more of them, you'll think back to a time you could have got this one... Yes, it's expensive but...

Believe me...I know the drill. It's not a case of expecting to find it cheaper, but of justifying the cost relative to what I collect...which ain't trainers (at least for the moment). I have been keeping a peeled eye out for ConD SMLEs for a while now though.

[bigduke6]

Pricing is often baffling which I attribute to newcomers to the field with large disposable incomes and little patience

Hit the nail on the head with that one, but I think it covers all collecting etc, I seen a SMLE No1 MkV today for £3575.00

[Paul S.]

That's it exactly. If one collects trainers - which I don't, or if one is just starting out collecting - and I'm not; then it may be a bargain. And yes, IMA is definitely clued in of the collector market. After all, it is their bread and butter. I admit all that.

I have to say though, that I'm a bit long in the tooth. That means that anything I collect now will most likely only end up in my boys hands a few decades down the track after the reading of the Will. Will they be interested? Will they even care what it is?

Then too, I'm primarily interested in WWI/WWII SMLEs, have more rifles than I can shoot. I'm not particularly interested in trainers and have passed up several over the years.

[Ridolpho]

I seen a SMLE No1 MkV today for £3575.00

Good God! Was it at least in nice shape? I've concluded you have to try to be out of synch with the rest of the collecting world. When LE's are popular, buy Mosins or something else. Last year while Great War SMLE's were priced out of reach here in Canada, I found relative bargains on a Martini Mk I and a SMLE MK V- both in superb condition and, apparently, attracting little interest.

Ridolpho